Biography

1964-67    Imperial Chemical Industries (Ltd): Technical Officer (Chemical Engineer)

1967-75    McGill University, Montreal (1967-70: Lecturer; 1970-72: Assistant Professor; 1972-75: Associate Professor)

1973-74    Università di Napoli: Visiting Professor in Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Plan

1975-76    Imperial College, London: Lecturer in Chemical Engineering

1976-81    University of Cambridge: Lecturer in Chemical Engineering

1978-81    Trinity College, Cambridge: Fellow (1980-81 Praelector)

1981-         University of Surrey

    1981-92:    Professor of Chemical Engineering

    1981-91:    Head of Department of Chemical and Process Engineering

    1992-05:    Director of Centre for Environmental Strategy

    1992-08:    Professor of Environmental Technology

    2008-:        Emeritus Professor

Selected External Appointments

1992-98    Member, UK Ecolabelling Board

1996-05    Member, Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution

1997-        Member, International Expert Group on application of LCA to waste management

2000-10    Director, Blackrock-Merill Lynch New Energy Trust

2001 -       Member, Rolls-Royce Environmental Advisory Board

2003-4      Member, Royal Society/Royal Academy of Engineering Working Group on Nanotechnology

2004-5      Specialist Adviser on Energy Efficiency to House of Lords' Science and Technology Committee

2004-9      Member, Forestry Commission Advisory Committee on Forest Research

2006-11    Member, Science Advisory Council of Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

2006-11    Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Sustainable Development Research Network

2007-8      Member of Carbon Trust/BSI Steering Group on "Measurement of the embodied greenhouse gas emissions in products and services"  

2009-10 President of the International Society for Industrial Ecology

2011- Executive Director of the International Society for Industrial Ecology

Research Interests

Environmental System Analysis, including Life Cycle Assessment, Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Energy Systems; Bioenergy; Sustainable Supply Chains; Engineering Ethics. 

Research Collaborations

National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP)

TSEC-Biosys research consortium (NERC)

Publications

Levasseur, A., Brandão, M., Lesage, P., Margni, M., Pennington, D., Clift R.and Samson, R. (2012) Valuing temporary carbon storage, Nature Climate Change, 2, pp. 6-8.

Theis, T.L., Bakshi , B., Clift, R., Durham , D., Fthenakis, V., Gutowski , T., Isaacs, J., Seager, T. and Wiesner, M.R. (2011). A Life Cycle Framework for the Investigation of Environmentally Benign Nanoparticles and Products, Physica Status Solidi RRL , 5(9), pp. 312-317.

Cederberg, C., Persson, U.M., Neovius, K., Molander, S. and Clift, R. (2011) Including carbon emissions from deforestation in the carbon footprint of Brazilian beef, Env. Sci and Tech., 45, pp.1773-1779.

Weston, N., Clift, R., Holmes, P., Basson, L. and White, N. (2011) Streamlined life cycle approaches for use at oil refineries and other large industrial facilities, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 50(3), pp.1624-1636.

Brandão, M., Clift, R., Milà i Canals, L. and Basson, L. (2010) A life-cycle approach to characterising environmental and economic impacts of multifunctional land-use systems: An integrated assessment in the UK, Sustainability, 2(12), pp.3747-3776.

 Milà i Canals, L., Chapagain, A., Orr, S., Chenoweth, J.,  Antón, A. and Clift, R. (2010) Assessing freshwater use impacts in LCA, Part II: Case study of broccoli production in the UK and Spain, International Journal of LCA, 15(6), pp. 598-607.

Brandão, M., Milà i Canals, L. and Clift, R. (2010) Soil organic carbon changes in the cultivation of energy crops: Implications for GHG balances and soil quality for use in LCA, Biomass & Bioenergy, 35(6), pp. 2323-2336.

López, P.I., Cripps, A., Clift, R. and Jefferis, S. (2010) The use of operational waste benchmarks to estimate waste quantities and composition for waste strategies and to assess environmental performance of building developments within cities. Comms. in Waste and Resource Management, 10(1), pp. 28-34.

Clift, R, Basson, L. and Cobbledick, D. (2009) Accounting for carbon, The Chemical Engineer, Sept., pp. 35-37.

Milà i Canals, L., Chenoweth, J., Chapagain, A., Orr, S., Antón, A. and Clift, R. (2009) Assessing Freshwater Use Impacts in LCA Part I: Inventory Modelling and Characterisation Factors for the Main Impact Pathways, International Journal of LCA, 14(1), pp. 28-42.

Elghali, L. , Clift, R., Begg, K. G. and McLaren, S. (2008). Decision support methodology for complex contexts. Engineering Sustainability, 161(1), pp. 7-22.

Weston, N., Clift, R., Basson, L., Poulton, A. and White, N. (2008) Assessment of cleaner process options: a case study from petroleum refining, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 86, pp.302-315.

Vermeylen, S., Martin, G. and Clift, R. (2008) Intellectual property rights systems and the assemblage of local knowledge systems, International Journal of Cultural Property, 15(2), pp.201-221.

Muñoz, I., Milà i Canals, L. and Clift, R. (2008) Consider a spherical man – a simple model to include human excretion in Life Cycle Assessment of food products, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 12(4), pp.521-538.

Sinclair, P., Cowell, S., Löfstedt, R. and Clift, R., (2008) A case study in participatory environmental systems assessment with the use of multimedia materials and quantitative LCA, Journal of Environmental Assessment, Planning and Management, 9(4), pp.399-421.

Clift, R. and Mulugetta, Y. (2007) A Plea for Common Sense (and Biomass), The Chemical Engineer, October, pp. 24-26.

Geldermann, J., Schollenberger, M., Rentz, O., Huppes, G., Van Oers, L., France, C., Nebel, B., Clift, R., Lipkova, A., Saetta, S., Desideri, U. and May, T. (2007) An Integrated Scenario Analysis for the Metal Coating Sector in Europe, Technological Forecasting and Social Change), 74, 1482-1507.

Geyer, R., Davis, J., Ley, J., He, J., Jackson, T., Clift, R., Kwan, A. and Sansom, M. (2007) Time-dependent Material Flow Analysis of Iron and Steel in the UK; Part 1: Production and Consumption Trends 1970-2000, Resources, Conservation and Recycling 51(1), pp 101-117.

Davis, J., Geyer, R., Ley, K., He, J., Clift, R., Kwan, A., Sansom, M. and Jackson, T. (2007) Time-dependent Material Flow Analysis of Iron and Steel in the UK; Part 2: Scrap Generation and Recycling, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 51(1), pp 118-140.

Burningham, K., Barnett, J., Carr, A., Clift, R. and Wehrmeyer, W. (2007) Industrial constructions of publics and public knowledge: a qualitative investigation of practice in the UK chemicals industry, Public Understanding of Science, 16 (1), pp. 23-43.

Sim, S., Barry, M., Clift, R. and Cowell, S. (2006) The Relative Importance of Transport in Determining an Appropriate Sustainability Strategy for Food Sourcing: A Case Study of Fresh Produce Supply Chains, International Journal of LCA, 10, pp. 1-10.

Clift, R. (2006) Climate Change and Energy Policy: The Importance of Sustainability Arguments, Energy, 32, pp.262-268.

Clift, R. (2006) Sustainable development and its implications for chemical engineering. Chemical Engineering Science, 61, pp 4179-4187.

Elghali, L., Cowell, S.J., Begg, K.G. and Clift, R. (2006) Support for Sustainable Development Policy Decisions: A Case Study from Highway Maintenance, International Journal of LCA, 11 (1), pp. 29-39.

Mungkung, R., Udo de Haes, H. A. and Clift, R. (2006) Potentials and Limitations of Life Cycle Assessment in Setting Ecolabelling Criteria: A Case Study of Thai Shrimp Aquaculture Product. International Journal of LCA, 11(1), pp 55-59.

Clift, R. (2003) Metrics for Supply Chain Sustainability. Clean Technology and Environmental Policy, 5, 240-247. Mellor, W., Wright, E., Clift, R., Azapagic, A. & Stevens, G. (2002) A Mathematical Model and Decision-Support Framework for Material Recovery, Recycling and Cascaded Use. Chemical Engineering Science, 57, 4697-4713.

Departmental Duties

Emeritus - research and p/g supervision